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Wikia Gaming speaks out on game wikis
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An interview with Doug Kennedy of Wikia Gaming
In the past, getting a game's FAQ was the best way to get in depth information about a game without plopping down twenty bucks for an "official" guide, but in the past few years, game wikis have become more and more popular. Due to its structure, a wiki is able to provide more depth than a FAQ, and organize it in a way that makes it easier to find a specific piece of information.
Doug Kennedy, the Sr. Marketing Manager of Wikia Games, has been very involved in the growth of game wikis and the community surrounding game wikis. I recently exchanged a few emails with him on the future of game wikis, and he graciously agreed to answer a few questions.
In your opinion, what's the single best thing about game wikis?
I am constantly amazed at the depth of knowledge gaming wikis offer. The fact that an active and engaged community is the source of all of so much content that just begs to be read and interacted with is inspiring. I suppose the general concept of a wiki lends itself to the gaming field very well, especially as we see an increasing number of complex games. Not only do today's games have complex graphics and game play, but they also feature sophisticated lore and franchises that extend well beyond the games themselves.
We used to just pop in a cartridge, jump over some holes, swing on a vine, and try not to run into snakes. Now, we have complex stories that rival bestselling novels, and game launches that best movie premiers. Wikis are a great place to document all this lore, background information, character builds and just about anything related to the game. Allowing anyone to edit and interact with something they are passionate about is very powerful tool.
Game wikis have their strong points like the ease of finding the information in them, what do you see as their weakest point?
Well, the same thing that makes wikis great can be a point of weakness. It's very daunting trying to edit for the first time, much like learning to swim. People visit a wiki, and find something they can contribute on, but are shocked when they click "edit" by this foreign markup language. Wiki markup is made to be as simple as possible, yet it can be confusing and take some time getting used to. There are a number of things that can be done to make that process less daunting.
Wikia just launched a new user-friendly editor across our newer gaming wikis that works on the WYSIWYG, or "what you see is what you get," principle. It allows contributors to edit using an interface similar to that of, say, Microsoft Word in the hope is that as we lower barriers into editing, that those that just read will think about adding their content and actively participate rather than just digesting content.
What advice would you give someone who wants to become more involved in the community aspect of wikis?
You just have to find a topic that you are passionate about and has an active community behind it. Then, you just jump in. I think people are surprised to find how welcoming and helpful wiki communities really are. Make a couple edits (it could be adding content, or fixing grammar); most wiki administrators will leave a welcome message with useful links and projects that need help on your personal talk page. If not, just introduce yourself to the active editors, and check the recent changes to see what they are working on.
At Wikia, we have successfully used online events as a tool to get new users engaged on a wiki. Visitors come to Wikia for a chance to win an exclusive beta key, or a signed copy of a game, and through the event, end up getting involved on the wiki. The community is the greatest resource wikis have. It's not hard to be part of, you just have to take the first step and edit something.
Continue to part 2 of the interview
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